« Le diable dans la bouteille ». Salomon, Virgile, Éole et la longue métamorphose des rituels de la pluie et des pratiques d’apprivoisement du vent

Abstract

The analysis I propose here aims at demonstrating that the cliché of the demon in the bottle, very popular in Western culture, does not represent the mere visualization of a standard wizardry tool or of a simple folklore motif, even if, as such, it enjoyed a broad chronological and geographical diffusion. My contention is that the story of the devil entrapped in a container resulted from the encounter of two different and distinct notions: an archaic concern, springing from the desire to control natural forces, particularly winds, and a more recent habit of associating solid vessels and evil spirits, which developed mostly around the end of the first century C.E. onwards, particularly in Jerusalem. Successively, through the pseudo-epigraphic text known as the Testament of Solomon, both traditions were ascribed to King Solomon who, from Late Antiquity onwards, was strongly associated with the domain of demonology, thus becoming a sort of necromancer par excellence.